“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
A lot of time and deliberation usually goes into naming our children. Goethe likens a person’s name to a “perfectly fitting garment.” A person’s name is indelibly linked with their personality and character, the association of which can evoke either pleasant or unpleasant sentiments.
When the angel appeared to Joseph, he instructed him to name the baby Jesus, which means the LORD saves. Just as Joshua (the Hebrew form of Jesus) led the Israelites into the Promised Land, the name Jesus was a prophecy that He would, indeed, be our Savior and bring us into the Promised Land—eternity with God.
“Jesus Christ has over 100 names and titles. Why this many? Is it not because, though a name is descriptive, it is also restrictive? A name or a title has a self-imposed limitation and no one could begin to describe or define Jesus Christ. In one sense, He is the Unnameable One. His glory and His greatness defy description and definition.” (Henry Gariepy, 100 Portraits of Christ).
Jesus cannot be confined to just one name. The more we learn about Him, the more He becomes undefinable. Even one hundred names cannot contain all that Christ is. Jesus – name above all names – our eternal hope and salvation.
Thought: “There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.” – Billy Sunday